Image from christianglobe.com
Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work.Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’ (Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9. 12-20)
This was humanity's connection point with holiness. The formation of a nation, a holy nation, was started by God's declaration about life and how we should live, if we want to be holy. Moses received these on two tablets and they contain the basis of many of the laws of society throughout the world. The basic instructions can be summed up in this way: Get along with God. Get along with others. All will be well.
The first part shows that God is a jealous God. God reminds us that it was His doing that the Jews were led out of Egypt as free men and women. There were and are, no other gods. Period. And certainly, we shouldn't invent any to worship. God is creator, created us to worship Him, and not creation itself. Yes, there are many who still do, but it is our job to do what we can to help them see the reality of the one true God.
God's name is holy, as is God's very being. We are to love, honor, and respect that name, and not throw it around in common or vulgar usage. God's day is the sabbath, and it is meant to be a holy day.
The second part shows how we are to deal with others. And it starts at home; We are to honor our parents, and this commandment is the one with a promise attached to it, "so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
We are to respect the sacredness of life, the sacredness of marriage, and respect of the things of others that are not ours. We are not to take the things that belong to others and make them ours. We should be forthright in our dealings with others, and not resort to false statements about others. Though the things of others may seem attractive to us, we are not to desire them for ourselves.
The giving of the Ten Commandments was a dramatic event and one that brought fear to the people, to the point they did not want to hear directly from God, rather from Moses. Moses replied that we should not be afraid, but to be respectful and honorable before the Lord.
We may have plagues or photos of these commandments in our homes, but pause to read them often and to be reminded that all is well when we put God and others in proper perspective.
PRAYER: Thank You, loving Father, for these commandments. Give us the love and respect we need to love You, fear You, and serve You. Give us the same to treat others as we should treat ourselves. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the Big Ten to someone today, as you show how life can be best lived in following the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
